September 16, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. – Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that 50-year-old Christopher Joseph Babb is charged with felony riot, among other charges, after throwing an object toward an officer assigned to the Portland Police Bureau during an unlawful assembly.
Babb is charged with one count of riot, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of interfering with a peace officer.
This investigation started on August 31, 2020 and continued into the next day when Portland Police responded to a demonstration near the intersection of Northwest 11th Avenue and Northwest Glisan Street. Approximately 200 people gathered in the area. Some individuals damaged property and started a fire inside a privately owned business. Law enforcement declared a riot and ordered the crowd to disperse.
As the Portland Police Bureau’s Rapid Response Team gathered objects including glass bottles, full beverage cans, balloons filled with paint and large rocks were thrown at the officers, according to court documents.
In response, officers engaged with the crowd in an attempt to stop objects from being thrown at them, according to court documents.
An officer ran toward a person, later identified as Babb, and knocked Babb down when Babb refused to disperse, according to court documents. The officer involved in that incident continued past Babb.
A second PPB officer reported seeing Babb “spring up and throw a projectile” toward the officer who had passed, according to court documents. Based on the flight path of the object and its velocity, the witness officer reported the object thrown was capable of causing an injury to a human target, according to court documents.
The unknown object that was thrown missed the officer.
Police arrested Babb. During their arrest they found Babb to be in possession of a metal collapsible baton.
No additional information can be released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office at this time.
A charging document is only an accusation of a crime. Babb is innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Media Contact:
Brent Weisberg, Communications Director
Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office
Email: Brent.Weisberg@mcda.us